


Four Word Question

by adaya_sage



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 12:50:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3651003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adaya_sage/pseuds/adaya_sage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had accidentally saved his life and he would never let her forget that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Four Word Question

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> The second of two gift fics for IhasToast. Happy Almost Birthday! (Again :P)

She had accidentally saved his life and he would never let her forget that.

It had been a yes or no answer to a four word question. Even though it hadn’t seemed very important at that time he told her afterwards that it had been the most momentous event ever experienced by any man. She thought he had been being over dramatic.

 

The question had been, of course, ‘Will you date me?’ which was neither particularly eloquent or romantic but a yes had fallen from her lips before she had a chance to question that sincere look in his eyes and wonder if anyone could possibly be that honest when first meeting someone. Especially when first meeting a woman working at a flower stand outside of a gardening store. He looked young, and this was the first time they had ever laid eyes on each other. But in that instant something sparked.

During the date he was teasing and playful and made her laugh about everything from the table cloth to how much trouble he had had with his hair that afternoon. After dinner they sat on a bench in the park and ate ice cream and he had to run up and pet _every single_ dog that had crossed their path. It was almost annoying, but every bit adorable.

 

That turned into another date, and another, movies (his idea), dancing (her idea), but soon they brushed past the traditional and found their common ground. Rock climbing, hiking, hunting through the woods for waterfalls and the perfect climbing tree. He brought her flowers (that he bought from the store she worked at, it made her laugh). She would always text him good night. He was a college student, aspiring world traveler, and adventure enthusiast. She was thoughtful, gentle, and knew her way around a Dojo.

To be perfectly honest they had been perfect for each other from the moment they met. He was reckless and she was thoughtful and not a moment went by when the one didn’t appreciate the other.

 

It happened in her apartment. He was trying to show off by cooking dinner, she was laughing and taking sips of her favorite wine. He turned to her, with a four letter question, a yes or no answer was on her lips and she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Fear.

The way he said it made him seem so sure of her answer but she hesitated and he seen the flicker of doubt that entered her green eyes. There was something wrong but he didn’t know what just yet.

Her lips trembled and she wondered how she could give either answer. It was complicated, she told him, how could she explain? A traditional family from a foreign land, she had been raised in a culture where this was the norm but now it seemed anything but. Now she had pulled him in farther than she should have and she was responsible for the hurt that was filling his brown eyes. The smell of burning steak was filling her apartment but neither of them could stomach the thought of food just now.

“Leaving? Leaving where?” He had shouted; voice hoarse with sadness and disbelief. “How could you have not told me sooner?”

She couldn’t think of anything to excuse herself. Thoughtful had turned to thoughtless and she wondered how she could have so thoroughly ignored his needs and just focus on her own.

The silence was deadly sharp, it pierced her heart and she wondered at her own selfishness. The pain in his eyes and the quiet speech was just making her feel it more acutely. He didn’t look at her as he took the ruined food off the stove. He did the dishes in silence. She couldn’t find words strong enough to break it.

“If you do come back…” He stopped. He never went on. He shook his head and sighed and she wondered how she could have done this to him. Wonder at her own lack of care was all she could do.

They parted with hardly a goodbye and she cried herself to sleep for the next week. She fought the urge to text him goodnight.

The question had been, of course, Do you love me?

The answer had been muddled and gray in her mind.

 

It was 1 year, 3 months, 15 days, and 12 hours later that she saw him. Not that she had been counting. She had given up her mission. The family expectation that she would be the next head of the guard to a group of royals who did not operate in what she thought was a proper way had not been met. It had taken her a year to realize what a mistake she had made, and three months to realize what a coward she was. Fifteen days to question herself and twelve hours to make the decision firm in her mind.

She had gotten the address from his brother. He was living on top of some little antique store run by their uncle, called the Treasure of Erebor. She was there in a heartbeat. His door was locked and she was scared he would never open it. Was this the feeling he had gotten when she had slammed the door in his face?

His hair was wet and messy; he must have just gotten out of the shower. His eyes were wide and pained and she wished she had never sowed that seed, the pain would linger, she was sure, for quite a long time to come.

It was a four word question with a yes or no answer and she never realized how terrified someone could feel until the words were coming out of her mouth. How he must have felt all those times, during those months that they had shared.

His hair dripped down his neck and his wide eyes were asking many more questions than she had ever dared to ask. But one rang bright and she knew it by sight. _Can I trust you?_ She wondered that herself sometimes, would she even be able to trust herself? But then a light came back into those playful eyes and something came back to life in him.

He didn’t bother telling her about the sleepless nights and the hours he had spent calling her old number, leaving messages on a phone that no longer belonged to her (it was instead the phone of a irritable old man, needless to say the messages he left had caused quite a stir). They could discuss all of that later.

What mattered now was the answer. He pulled her into his arms and sobbed into her hair as they feel backward into his apartment. There had been no hope in sight, no chance that he had seen for this doomed love affair, but he had been wonderfully and beautifully wrong. Life had been dark and dreary but when she showed up at his door color was restored to his world. She had saved his life from a gloom that he hadn’t been able to shake in 1 year, 3 months, 15 days, and 12 hours. Not that he was counting.

The answer was yes.

The question, of course, was: Will you marry me?


End file.
